


first christmas

by civillove



Series: plans wrapped in rubber bands [33]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28011807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/civillove/pseuds/civillove
Summary: anon request on tumblr for brio christmas--Beth purses her lips, staring across the marble counter and accidently spilling marshmallows everywhere because she’s too busy staring at Rio, “What do you mean ‘I have business’?”Rio blinks at her, like she might be hard of hearing and she really hates when he does that. “What does it sound like?”“It sounds like you’re trying to mess up our first Christmas together.”
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Series: plans wrapped in rubber bands [33]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1347943
Comments: 20
Kudos: 143





	first christmas

**Author's Note:**

> just some ridiculous fluff for the plans wrapped in rubber bands universe. this is a standalone, you really don’t have to know anything about the series to read this, but it does fit in the sense that these two are soft, in love losers.

Beth purses her lips, staring across the marble counter and accidently spilling marshmallows everywhere because she’s too busy staring at Rio, “What do you mean ‘I have business’?”

Rio blinks at her, like she might be hard of hearing and she _really hates_ when he does that. “What does it sound like?”

“It _sounds_ like you’re trying to mess up our first Christmas together.”

A laugh slips out of Rio’s lips, something smooth and too attractive and he leans against his counter to pick up a few marshmallows she’s dropped with his fingers, “This ain’t our first Christmas together—”

“I would hardly say that _last year_ counted between the ice, flying bullets, and stiches I had to get—”

“And number two, for those keepin’ score,” He pops a marshmallow into his mouth, talking over her, “You just said Dean would be around and I’m not even close to bein’ interested in pretending I can stand him.”

Beth blinks, using a spoon to try and contain everything in her mug full of hot chocolate. “It’s Christmas and he’s the father of my kids.”

“He’s an idiot,” He mumbles and then watches her lift her mug to put into the microwave because apparently she didn’t heat the milk hot enough before adding everything else in. “And don’t even think about it—you’re gonna get shit everywhere. Why are you always ruining my appliances?”

“That blender was on its last leg anyways.” Beth scrunches her nose and gives him this _mom look_ that says ‘please, I know what I’m doing’ before waving him off and setting the timer on the microwave. “Not that I don’t love my kids,”

“All eight of them?” Rio teases, putting his chin in the palm of his hand as he smiles at her.

Beth throws a marshmallow at his face.

“But I was talking about just you and me…maybe putting a tree up in this very sad apartment.”

“Says the woman who spends so much time here.”

“And _since_ I spend so much time here, I should get to be a deciding factor in your decorating.” Beth decides with a confident nod, putting the cap back on the jarred hot chocolate mix before setting it in the cabinet above the sink.

Rio sighs evenly but she can tell he’s amused, just a little, the tells on his face as plain as day given how well she knows him. There’s this soft warmth to his eyes and the corners of his mouth twitch as he watches her flit around the kitchen. He’s been wound up ever since she decided to keep an apron here for when she comes overs, a soft maroon floral thing that’s tied loosely around her neck and snug around her waist. Beth can understand his sudden distraction, since she’s worn it without clothes underneath a few times in his presence.

“I don’t decorate.”

Beth frowns a little, “Not even for Marcus?”

“He’s with his mom this year.”

She nods her head a little, tapping her fingers against the counter before she finally cleans up the spilled marshmallows on the counter and ties the bag off so she doesn’t eat any more of them. “Oh, I didn’t realize you and Lana had off and on holidays.”

Rio shrugs his one shoulder, “It’s just easier.”

Beth chews on the inside of her cheek, moving around the counter until she’s standing in front of him. He doesn’t turn his body to face her, not quite yet, she stands there for a few moments before he opens himself up to her. They’ve worked tirelessly to remove these barriers between them but sometimes, they still linger.

“Just one small tree?” She puts her hands on his broad shoulders, tracing them down his biceps until she’s able to wrap her arms around his waist. “We can put it up before you take care of…whatever cryptic business that’s keeping you from Christmas.”

“I’m vistin’ my grandmother, alright?” Beth decides not to ask how _that_ constitutes as business but, whatever, at least he’s being honest. Rio lets out a long sigh, looking down at her as she draws him closer, his hands settling on her waist with a squeeze. “What is it with you tryin’ to fill my apartment with plants?”

“They’re good for oxygen and if you don’t want something real, we can go the artificial route. I’ll take care of everything—lights, garland, ornaments, all the fixings. Please?”

Rio rolls his eyes but she already knows he’s saying ‘yes’ just by his exasperated expression. Beth understands and doesn’t feel bad about the fact that it’s hard to tell her ‘no’ when it comes to decorating.

The microwave starts beeping before Rio has a chance to say anything and Beth pulls away to retrieve her mug. When she opens the small door, it looks like a marshmallow massacre has taken place. Just as Rio suspected, Beth has caused small havoc within his microwave.

She smiles innocently, quickly grabbing paper towels. “Don’t say a word, everything’s fine.”

Rio runs a hand over his face, shaking his head as he watches her quickly clean up the mess he predicted with melted marshmallows and bubbling chocolate. “Let’s hope your decoration skills aren’t as disastrous.”

\--

Beth’s always loved decorating, it doesn’t really matter if it’s for a specific holiday, a party or even just rearranging a room and adding new pieces to manipulate a space’s feng shui. She thinks for a while it had to do with liking control, the ability to manipulate things underneath her hands and that decorations can cheer a place up—can hide things that are going on beneath the surface. It’s not about that anymore; she’s realized that she’s actually good at things with lots of moving parts, even considered becoming some sort of an interior designer before everything worked out with Rio.

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still enjoy doing small projects like this.

Beth claps and rubs her hands together as she stands in front of the tree in Rio’s living room corner. Alright, one more strand of lights to go and then they can start on the ornaments. She looks over her shoulder as she begins unpacking what she needs as Rio comes out of his closet, dressed in a pair of black jeans and…a cream-colored sweater, thick-knit from the look of it.

She raises an eyebrow, “I didn’t realize you owned light-colored sweaters.”

Rio pauses, looking down at himself and tugs the bottom of his shirt, “Oh wait, this _isn’t_ a black tee?” He sighs dramatically, “Damn, must’ve been dark in my closet when I put it on.”

Beth laughs softly and plugs the strand of twinkle lights in, untangling the end of it before she starts wrapping it around the tree. “Are you going to help at all or just produce the days’ worth of sarcasm?”

“I can multi-task.” Rio assures her, coming up beside her to assist with the lights. She’s suddenly overwhelmed with the heat of his body and the scent of his cologne, taking a deep breath to steady herself as she glances out the window to see snow flurries begin.

They fall into this magnetic pattern to decorate the tree, their bodies knowing one another and operating in a fluid motion. Rio handles most of the other lights when Beth starts in on the garland and they switch on and off for the ornaments, distributing them evenly on the tree.

“Did you bring mistletoe?” Rio asks suddenly, taking a step back to survey their work. It’s not half bad.

Beth scoffs because, no, of course she didn’t—she figured that’d be the last thing Rio would allow in his loft. He’s barely tolerating the tree.

“I thought you were supposed to be a professional.” He teases her, leaning in to kiss her anyways.

She hums, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, her hands resting along his neck. Beth smooths her fingers along the top of his back, dragging across the thick-knit sweater she’s still amused he has on. When the kiss gradually ends, Rio has a soft-black rectangular box in his hands and Beth scrunches her nose.

“We said no gifts.”

“I lied,” Rio says easily, “You should know this about me by now, I lie about everything.”

Beth rolls her eyes because he’s _not_ like that—maybe in the beginning, before they really knew one another, before she knew how to trust him and he knew how to let her in. She takes the box in her hands, letting out a soft sigh as she curls her hair around her ear.

“I did get you something,” She says after a moment, “Another package of black t-shirts, I still have to wrap them.”

Rio smirks, shaking his head, “Aight, if you’re gonna be a smartass, I’ll just—” He attempts to take the box back but Beth makes a soft squeak noise before turning out of his grasp.

She opens the box and smiles down at the necklace inside, white-gold, a single initial charm on a dainty chain. Beth runs her thumb over the ‘E’, a red stone in the center that she assumes is a ruby, making it unique and even more beautiful.

Rio’s the only one who does that, calls her ‘Elizabeth’ because ‘Beth’ for some reason won’t do.

“I love it. Help me put it on?”

Rio nods softly and moves to take the necklace out of the box. He motions for her to turn around, slipping the chain around her neck. The cool surface of the initial against her warm skin makes her shiver, Rio’s fingers gliding along her throat as he adjusts the charm once it’s in place. She licks her lips, turning to look up at him, smiling as his eyes travel over her appraisingly.

“It stands for ‘exasperating.” He says, fiddling with the chain before his hands drop.

Beth narrows her eyes, “Ah, here I thought it stood for _executive,_ you know, like ‘boss’? The person making decisions around here?”

Rio grins and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her into the cage of his arms, keeping her close when he leans down to kiss her.

And while Beth knows the E stands for her name, she supposes it could also mean _everything_ because she’s got it all—right here.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading and for anyone offering kudos and comments. thanks especially to the anon who requested brio because they missed my series :) i really appreciate it!


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